Problem: Let $f(x) = -2x^{2}-8x-7$. Where does this function intersect the x-axis (i.e. what are the roots or zeroes of $f(x)$ )?
Solution: The function intersects the x-axis when $f(x) = 0$ , so you need to solve the equation: $-2x^{2}-8x-7 = 0$ Use the quadratic formula to solve $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ $x = \dfrac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$ $a = -2, b = -8, c = -7$ $ x = \dfrac{+ 8 \pm \sqrt{(-8)^{2} - 4 \cdot -2 \cdot -7}}{2 \cdot -2}$ $ x = \dfrac{8 \pm \sqrt{8}}{-4}$ $ x = \dfrac{8 \pm 2\sqrt{2}}{-4}$ $x =\dfrac{4 \pm \sqrt{2}}{-2}$